Understanding the Cost of a Private Pilot License

By Bruce Hogan

Once you have decided that becoming a Private Pilot is one of your goals in life then you have your work cut out for you. Not meaning to imply that it is extremely difficult, but to say that there is some research involved in how to go about achieving it.

Naturally, you are aware that as a Private Pilot you are required to be licensed. To obtain your license you are going to need proper training. This means you have to find the proper training facilities and of course, there is going to be a price tag attached to it. To achieve your goal cost effectively you need to plan ahead. To start with, you should gather as much information as you can about some of the local flight schools in your area. This way you will be able to compare what they have to offer and at what price. Do not fall into the trap of just taking the cheapest there is. This is a very important venture you are about to take, and your safety is of the utmost importance.

You are probably aware that obtaining your Private Pilot license is not going to be cheap. The economy plays an important role in the cost of tuitions as well. Particularly the cost of fuel, which increases the hourly flight, costs. The good thing to remember is once you obtain your license its permanent provided you do a flight review every two years along with some other minor regulations.

It is very important that you have a financial plan in place. It is frustrating when you run out of money half way through your course and cannot continue. In the end, you will pay out much more money if you are taking your lessons intermittently. Do not rely too heavily on the estimates you receive as it normally ends up costing more than that. The FAA has set minimum number of flying hours, but the flight schools vary in their expectations over and above that. A good rule of thumb would be to tack on an extra $2,000 to the quote you have been given for your flying course.

You will see a variation in the tuitions that you receive quotes on. The cost is dependant on the types of planes being used for instruction for example or what part of the country the School is located at. There are several segments to a flight-training course. There is pre solo, post solo, flight test, and of course books and materials. These all have their own costs associated with them. . Each school will have their own book and materials demand consistent with FAA publications. Your pre solo costs have to include the cost of having an instructor with you at all times. Then a new set of costs is presented in the post solo sector of your training. Here costs pertaining to cross country and night flights have to be considered plus simulated instrument flying. Then finally, you are getting down to the end of the costs being your preparation for your flight test.

Depending on many factors your course could be somewhere around $8,500. This again is going to depend on location, facilities, inflation and the cost of fuel for example. The safest best is to plan to pay more instead of less. - 33387

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